Turkish Chicken

Does this picture make me look flat?????

It has been a long time since I cut and butterflied a whole chicken before. I am a bit rusty at it but managed to get the back bone and breast bone out okay. This style of cooking was a bit of work at first but once it was on the grill it was easy peasy. I loved how juicy the chicken was but at the same time the skin was crispy. I got this recipe for Chatelaine.

Pepper Added by Joey - I don't even remember seeing him reach for it

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cumin
1.5 teaspoons paprika
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon turmeric

1. Locate the back bone on the chicken and using a sharp knife cut on either side of the bone to remove.
2. Open chicken up and expose the breast bone. With a small sharp knife run a line down either side of the breast bone. Then run your finger along this same line gently removing the breast bone from the meat. It may not be simple and easy to remove. We had some sections that were more difficult and required the scissors.
3. Trim away any additional skin or fat that may be around the neck area.
4. Rinse and pat dry.
5. In a bowl, mix oil and all the seasonings.
6. Rub the mix onto the inside and outside of the bird.
7. Place chicken skin side up onto a BBQ (we did medium heat on the side the bird was not on and medium low on the side it was on).
8. Wrap a brick in tinfoil and place on top of the chicken.
9. Allow to grill for 20 minutes. Turn chicken and put the brick back on top.
10. Allow to cook for an additional 25 minutes (or until the breast reaches 170F).
11. Remove from the BBQ to a cutting board and cover with tinfoil for 10 minutes.
12. Cut into 4 pieces.

Maple Mustard BBQ Chicken

Every once in awhile you come across a recipe that looks good on paper and makes you have a completely silent dinner. This was one of those meals. The chicken turned out so good, it was moist but yet crisp on the outside. The maple mustard BBQ sauce was tangy and finger licking good. We will be making this again. Infact I think we will be making some more of the BBQ sauce and keeping it on hand to use more often.

Pepper Added by Joey - NONE. Can you believe it???

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whisky
2 bone in chicken breasts
Salt and pepper

1. In a saucepan saute the onion in the oil until lightly browned.
2. Stir in ketchup, maple syrup, vinegar, mustard and whisky. Bring to a boil.
3. Lower heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat your BBQ to medium heat.
5. Brush chicken with oil and season with salt and pepper.
6. Grill chicken until juices run clear. For the last 15 minutes of cooking baste the chicken with the BBQ sauce.

Beer Can Chicken

Mmmm beer. Whole chickens were on sale this week (buy 1 get one free...hello good deal) so I thought why not shove a can of beer up its butt and throw it on the grill.

We don't have any canned beer so I just used a pop can and poured half a bottle of beer into it (and drank the rest....ahh the perks of being the chef in the family). Also if you have a top rack on your BBQ you may have to remove it so the chicken will fit in with the lid closed.

Pepper added by Joey - None...what the what? How is that possible. Miracles do happen.


Ingredients
1 chicken - about 4 lbs (1.5-2 kg)
1 bottle/can of beer *note Canadian beer will make this recipe better
1/8 cup paprika
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
Vegetable oil

1. Take all the giblets and other stuff out of the cavity of the chicken
2. Rinse out the inside and the outside of the chicken
3. Pat dry with paper towel and then rub with oil
4. Turn on your BBQ to medium/high (only one burner/side)
5. Mix paprika, brown sugar, pepper and salt in a bowl. Rub all over the chicken - inside and out
6. Crack open a beer (gah cooking is hard), add half of it to a can (or if you already have a can, chug half of it)
7. At your BBQ slide the can of beer up the chickens butt (it will hurt you more than it will hurt him)
8. Place the chicken on the grill (opposite side to the burner that is on) and pull his legs out so it makes a tripod
9. Cook for about an hour and 15 minutes (or until the breast is 165F) over medium high heat
*** if you notice the skin starting to burn throw some tinfoil over it
10. Remove from the BBQ and allow to sit for 5 minutes before cutting

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

We had some peppers to use up and since we were already BBQ some pork I thought we could throw some stuffed peppers on the grill. The only problem is that they kept falling over so I had to wrap them in some tinfoil. This kept them upright and the contents intact but it meant we didn't get that charbroiled look.

Pepper added by Joey - After he cut it open he added a tiny bit



Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1/8 cup pine nuts
3 cups long grain rice
2 garlic cloves, minced
Vegetable stock
1 bunch spring onions sliced thinly
1 cup cherry tomatoes , halved
1/4 cup mozzarella , chopped
Handful each of parsley and basil , chopped

1. Heat the oil in a medium pan with a lid and fry the pine nuts until lightly toasted, then add the rice and fry until the grains are glossy.
2. Stir in the garlic, then add the stock (in place of the amount of water required in the directions for the rice)and bring to the boil.
3. Cover and cook according to the rice's directions.
4. Remove from the heat, cool slightly and stir in the spring onions, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh herbs. Season well and leave to cool.
5. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds/membrane.
6. Spoon some filling into the pepper cavity, taking care not to overfill. Place the top back on the pepper.
7. Put onto the BBQ and cook until pepper skin is a soft and a nice brown (unless using the tinfoil method then cook until soft).

Spicy Pork Tenderloin

I find pork tenderloin to be an easy last minute meal that can be prepared in so many different ways with a variety of flavours. Today we decided to spice it up a notch and use a rud on the pork then throw it on the BBQ.

Pepper added by Joey - None, it was spicy enough



Ingredients
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons onion salt
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1. Place pork tenderloin on a large cutting board and brush oil over all sides. Set aside.
2. Mix together dry rub seasoning. Place on a piece of saran wrap and roll the pork over the mix to pick up the seasonings.
3. Place on the BBQ and cook until no longer pink.

Red Onion Honey Mustard Chicken

I have had my eye on this recipe for awhile and finally decided to make it. I saw it on Rachel Ray and thought it was a simple way to spice up BBQ chicken. Her recipe doesn't call for the chicken to marinated at all but I decided to let it soak up the flavour for 3 hours. It really made the chicken moist and full of flavour.

Pepper Added by Joey - None

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup honey mustard
1/2 teaspoon allspice,
1/2 teaspoon curry powder,
1/2 teaspoon chinese 5 spice
5 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and pepper

1. Pour 2 tablespoons vegetable oil into a small saucepan over moderate heat.
2. Add red onions and saute 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add vinegar and reduce by half, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Add brown sugar and cook 1 minute to incorporate.
5. Whisk in broth and honey mustard, and spices. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to lowest setting.
6. Allow to cool slightly and pour over chicken. Allow to sit for 2-3 hours.
7. Heat grill and add chicken. Allow to cook until no longer pink, basting each time you turn the chicken.

Peppery Pork Tenderloin

Pass the Pepper goes all out on the pepper for dinner. While I am not a huge pepper person I found this to be really yummy and there is the flexibilty to change the amount of pepper based on your tastes.

Pepper added by Joey - None needed for this one!

Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin

1/4 cup ground peppercorns

Cooking spray

1/8 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon margarine

1 tablespoon ground peppercorns

2 packages of beef stock (oxo)

1. Spray pork with cooking spray.

2. Crack/ground peppercorns onto a piece of tinfoil. Roll pork on the tinfoil to pick up the pepper.

3. Press down to ensure the peppercorns will stick. Spray with cooking spray again.

4. BBQ until no longer pink.

5. On the stove mix the flour, milk, margarine, peppercorns and beef stock. Bring to a boil.

6. Continue to wisk frequently until it thickens. Lower temperature and allow to simmer.

7. Pour over sliced pork and serve.

Jerk Chicken

The longer you let this sit the more kick it will have. I only had 2 hours to let it sit and it still had loads of jerkiness to it but next time I will let it sit for at least 4 or 5 hours.

Pepper added by Joey - None

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon Italian dressing
1 tablespoon Jamaican Jerk seasoning
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves of garlic, minced

1. Mix all the ingredients together and pour over chicken.
2. Allow to sit for at least 4 hours.
3. BBQ the chicken until no longer pink.

Bacon Cheddar Burgers

Mmmm homemade burgers. I used to hate all ground beef but I love these burgers and keep them on hand to grill at any time.

Pepper added by Joey - None



Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, diced
2 mushrooms, diced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs
6 shakes of worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
Cheddar cheese
Hamburger buns
Bacon slices

1. Mix ground beef with onion, mushrooms, garlic, BBQ sauce, eggs, breadcrumbs, worcestershire sauce and salt/pepper.
2. Make into large round balls, then flatten, ensuring the edges are rounded. Wrap in saran wrap and place into the fridge to chill for an hour.
3. Cook bacon in a pan.
4. BBQ burgers until cooked. Adding cheese at the very end.
5. Add burger to a bun with your favourite toppings. Add bacon on top of burger.

Beef Fajitas

We had leftover flank steak to use up and since it was so nice out today we decided to BBQ the beef and make fajitas.

Pepper added by Joey - none as the salsa is spicy enough



Ingredients
Flank steak
1/2 tomato, diced
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup shredded cheese
Salsa
Sour cream
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
Fajita wraps
Taco seasoning

1. BBQ flank steak, marinating in BBQ sauce.
2. Season peppers and onions with taco mix.
3. Cook peppers and onions (we did it on the BBQ but on the stove works too) until soft.
4. When steak is cooked slice against the grain into small thin pieces.
5. Assemble tomato, sour cream, salsa, beef, veggies, lettuce and cheese on a fajita wrap.